Sydney Road Street Party 2013

It wasn't until I was coming home on the tram earlier in the week that I realized the Sydney Road Street Party was on again this weekend.  The weather today was quite nice, and I headed down to Sydney Road in the late afternoon to check out a couple of bands that were on the Local and Live Stage.  First was Francolin, who I have been meaning to see live for a while now.  They played songs from their debut album Won't Let You Down, which had a bit of a calypso feel to them with the trumpet and guitars.  I really enjoyed their set and hope to catch them again soon.

While Francolin were playing Ruth and Danny joined me since they were in the neighborhood.  We had a wander around the street party and checked out the various booths along Sydney Road.  It was the usual things from previous years, although it did seem as though a few more of the shops had set up stalls in front of their stores. 

We headed back to the Local and Live Stage in time for The Harpoons.  As always it was wonderful to see them play live.  The Madin brothers and Bec Rigby took turns on lead vocals and we were treated to a mix of songs including "Swim My Baby," "Walk Away" and the usual show stopper "Faith."  They finished their 45 minute set with "Keep You Around" and I am hoping that this is the year that their debut album finally sees the light of day!

Sydney Road Street Party

Because we didn't see enough of each other last night, Clinton, Kevin and I met up at the Sydney Road Street Party this afternoon. Joined by their friend Cameron we walked up and down Sydney Road a few times checking out the booths and food stalls. Unfortunately it seems as though the Muslim Women's Association has given up on selling their wonderful gozleme, which is so disappointing. We ended up eating chocolate croissants and sharing a lemon tart at Choukette and had our main meal from the Hare Krishna stall. There were lots of people out enjoying the street party and the various band stages, although we didn't find any music acts that grabbed our attention. After a few hours we decided we had seen everything there was to see and headed for home.

Sydney Road Street Party

It's time once again for the Sydney Road Street Party. I met Michelle and Ruth at noon and we had a wander up and down the street. There seemed to be less people and booths this year (maybe because of the cooler weather). It was also disappointing that there was no fashion show by the local shop owners and the Muslim Women's Association wasn't cooking any gozleme this year. It's the one reason why I attend the Street Party every year!

However the afternoon was not a complete loss. Ruth came along with mystery envelopes to play her own version of The Amazing Race- The Amazing Ruth. The first envelope involved tasks at the Street Party, and then we had to go to Bridie O'Reilly's for a drink. The next clue told her to travel into the city and go to Shanghai Dumplings in Chinatown. Since I had to go into the city later on I just tagged along. We met the man in the fluorescent vest for her next clue- which was a roadblock task of matching places to things that she had done there while in her relationship with Danny. It was then that I realized what was really going on. When Ruth successfully completed her roadblock she was handed her final clue, where she had to head to the pit stop at the Rialto. We said goodbye and heard later that she said yes!

Sydney Road Street Party

I spent my afternoon at the Sydney Road Street Party. I met up with Ruth and we stopped for some gozleme to eat on our way up to Victoria Street for the fashion parade. Ruth's friend Danielle joined us, and we enjoyed the fashions from Episode, Lulamae, and Frau Skill, among others. When the runway show ended we wandered back down Sydney Road and stopped at the various booths, performance stages, and shops. Thankfully the weather wasn't too hot, and there was a good turn out of people. We had a rest and chat at Kaleidoscope Cafe before hunting down some jam donuts and then heading for home.

Sydney Road Street Party

Today I spent the afternoon at the Sydney Road Street Party with Michelle and Ruth. It's an annual celebration for the Brunswick community. We started off by watching a fashion show done by local stores and designers. There were some good clothes, and I now have a couple new stores to check out. We spent the next hour walking down Sydney Road checking out the various booths and sampling the local cuisine. There were also lots of different music acts on the various stages spread throughout the street. Sounds of Polynesia, who perform music from the Cook Islands, were excellent. There was also a very amusing Chinese heavy metal band called The Five Venoms. Their lead singer has the biggest hair I've ever seen.

Ruth and I headed over to The Brunswick Green at 4:00 p.m. to catch a set by Charles Jenkins, who was the lead singer of the band Icecream Hands. The place was packed, but we found a nice spot of grass to sit on out in the beer garden. Ruth's boyfriend Danny joined us there later. For dinner we went to Piazza 51 and had some good pizzas. Unfortunately, someone stole Michelle's wallet out of her purse while we were eating. Not the best ending to an otherwise good day.